Laurence J. Hoffman ’64

Laurence J. Hoffman ’64, of Washington, D.C.; May 13. After Brown he graduated from Boston University School of Law and began his legal career at the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., but was there less than a year when he was recruited to join Steptoe & Johnson in their labor practice department. Three years later, he was invited to become the third associate at a new start-up satellite office of the Texas-based firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where he remained until his full retirement in 2007. He was active for several years with the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and played basketball most workdays at lunch at the D.C. YMCA. For more than 30 years he actively supported the Benedictine School and Adult Services Programs, an organization that provides services to the special needs community. He served on its board for most of that time, acting as chair for 10 years. While at Brown, he played baseball and often told the story of competing against Roger Staubach when the Navy team came to play in Providence. He was an accomplished self-taught woodworker, and he enjoyed the outdoors, playing golf, and fishing while at his homes in St. Michaels, Maryland, and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He is survived by his wife, Michele Levine Hoffman ’64; two sons, including Matthew ’91; a daughter-in-law; and two granddaughters.